10 Jul 2018

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491

Wellness programs get mixed reviews, but Breakers Palm Beach, an upscale Florida resort, shows they can work. The bragging rights they've earned with their programs includes:

A 4:1 return on investment based on healthcare savings

Turnover that's 55% lower than peers

A 30:1 ratio of applications received to jobs posted

92% of employees calling it a great place to work

The difference, according to Leigh Stringer the author of this Slate article, lies in management's deep commitment to the belief that happy employees make for happy customers.

Support for its broad-based health and wellness programs comes from the very top of the organization, the family who owns the resort and its top executives. It takes more than just offering gym privileges, flexible hours, and remote work options, reports Stringer. It takes a culture that gives employees permission to take advantage of the offerings.

31 May 2018

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226

"Programs focused on employee well-being have gained momentum in recent years, but few have been rigorously evaluated. This study evaluates the effectiveness of an intervention designed to enhance vitality and purpose in life by assessing changes in employee quality of life (QoL) and health-related behaviors."

Johnson & Johnson's Human Performance Institute teamed up with Tufts University to study the impact of an intensive 2.5 day well-being intervention that focused on energy management. Six months later, they measured marked improvements in participants' vitality, general health, mental health, social functioning, sense of purpose, and sleep quality.

It's a heavy read with 10 authors, 48 footnotes, and a heap of statistics, but it's an important one. It shows, among other things, that we need to measure what matters. Though wellness interventions have scored poorly in reducing medical expenses, their ability to improve employee performance could be far more impactful.

The high cost of poor health is just one of the many startling findings in Willis Towers Watson's biennial survey of over 31,000 global employees. In particular, when compared to employees in good health, those in poor health:

Take twice the number sick days

Are twice as likely to be disengaged

Three times more likely to report above-average or high stress

Employees with financial worries fare even worse than those with poor physical health. That's critical because financial well-being has taken a nose-dive in most developed countries.